I have a few tiny chips on the hood of the gto. What is the easiest way to fill them in?

 

If you want to do it yourself, be aware that it may not match perfectly. Your car is 4 years old and touch up paint rarely mixes right. The only way to get a perfect match is to have a body shop tint the paint to match and do it.

However, if you want to do it yourself, you probably wont notice unless you look for it. Here's what to do:

First, clean the area very well and get some 2000 grit sandpaper (wet) and lightly go over the chips and a little bit of the paint around it. This will make sure you get good clean edges and the paint around it wont flake any more, plus it will give a better surface to bond to.

Next put a nice blob of touchup paint over the area, enough that it fills the chip and then a little more. You might need to let it dry and do a little more (another quick brush of the sandpaper will ensure that the second coat sticks well also).

Once it's filled and dried (refer to the bottle for how long it needs to dry, it's usually 24 hours, so give it at least 24-48 hours), use your 2000 grit sandpaper (wet) again and smooth it down perfectly level with the paint around it.

Once you can rub your finger across and not feel the spot anymore, use a good polish to get the sandpaper scratches out. You'll almost certainly need to use at least two polishes, a heavy and a light to get out the scratches then bring back the shine. I use Menzerna PO83 SIP for my first polish, then the Menzerna PO106ff as my second polish. After you're done the area should be smooth as glass like the surrounding paint.

And of course, don't forget to reapply your protectant and/or wax over the areas you polished.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it's really not bad, and it will get it done the right way. Of course you could just brush on a little touch up paint and be done, but I assume if you're asking here you want it done right.

 

thanks aj. So the sandpaper wont harm the paint?

 

You won't sand the paint, you'll sand the clear coat, and while it will thin the clear coat a little, you should be fine as long as you don't go crazy. I wouldn't go lower than 1500 grit, preferably 2000 grit, and it'll take a lot to get through the clear coat. I'd suggest using some kind of block to make sure you keep a flat surface of sandpaper and don't go too deep in any one spot.

Wet sanding their paint is intimidating to a lot of people, but it's really not that big of a deal. After you do it you'll realize it's easy and harmless when done right.

 

Just take it easy and use a block like he said. You should be OK with a bit of patience.